The final inspection

Awning.....check

Cycle rack......check

                                                                                                                                                                           

Solar panel on roof.......check

                                                                                                                                                                             

Proud owner 1

Proud owner 2

The final check before handing over the rest of the money went brilliantly - excellent workmanship to a very high standard - couldn't fault it. I must admit I was a bit nervous on the way to see it, but for no reason as it turned out.
The final handover next week will be in Spanish, so two very good friends who are proficient in Spanish have offered to come with us to help out our woefully inadequate translations - should be interesting.
Spanish insurance for motorhomes is proving to be very challenging - it seems the norm here is to offer third party insurance only, and at a far higher cost than we were used to in UK - the internet and phone has been red hot today looking for some decent quotes that will give us some proper cover - to be continued!

Meanwhile this is what we did earlier today.....Cycling on the wild beach between El Mohon and San Pedro

Getting ready for picking up the motorhome!

Well, hopefully the 'van is ready by now - we have to go and check it out on Monday to make sure everything has been installed to our requirements, then we can make the final payment and collect it later next week!!  Meanwhile, we have been doing our weekly fruit and veg shop at Pilar market -

1. 5kg of local oranges (yes- 11lbs )!!
2. Half a huge melon
3. half a kilo of mushrooms
4. 3 huge red peppers
5. 5 little gem lettuce
6. half a kilo of plums
7. 2 big bulbs of garlic
8. half a kilo of french beans
9. half a kilo of strawberries

all for 12 euros!!

And we have been checking out the 'frost'













Hee hee no!!  It's salt on the salt lake at Torrevieja.  And this is what we stumbled across on the walk - we thought it looked like a cross between a newt and a crayfish but apparently it's a Mole cricket.  it's 7 cm in length and a bit scary!!

More updates next week after we have checked out the 'van on Monday.  (Still looking for a name for it....)

Motorhome - sorted!

Well..........we've done it. Just put a deposit down on a brand new 2013 Burstner Ixeo Time it590  Brand new model for 2013, so no previous history to go on, but it suits our needs down to the ground.
It's got a drop down double bed from the ceiling (great use of space), a massive 160 litre fridge (get those beers in), a big bathroom with a separate large shower room, the option to make another double bed from the lounge seating area, a kitchen with sink and 3 burner gas hob, a dining table to comfortably seat 5 people, multi adjustable cab driver and passenger seats which swivel to the lounge to make 2 extra seats, and LED lighting throughout.
This is a brand new model so Burstner (a leading quality German manufacturer) have loaded all the demonstration ones with loads of extras such as upgraded leather seating, cruise control, larger skylights, electric windows and mirrors, LED running lights, passenger airbag, air con, central locking and blinds for the windscreen and side windows.
All this in a sub 6 metre long motorhome so it can be driven anywhere and parked anywhere as a normal 4x4 would be, with the added advantage that we can LIVE IN IT!

The dealer we bought it from (autocaravanasnavarro) knocked €1500 off the advertised price to get us interested, plus they are throwing in for free an awning, a TV aerial and a TV. We thought it only proper that we should buy something as well, so we are having fitted a 2 cycle carrier on the rear, a 100watt solar panel on the roof and another 90Ah leisure battery to go with the one already in the van. After a lot of explaining I finally convinced the fitter that you could get a charge regulator that would charge the leisure batteries, then charge the van starter battery (the one he wanted to fit would only charge the leisure batteries). To their credit they rang the manufacturers of the solar panel and sorted the appropriate regulator. With all this extra battery power this means we can now "wild camp" without any external power input for up to 6 days.

All the above were sold at cost price with free fitting. Autocaravanas Navarra have been in business as Burstner agents for 35 years, and the fitter has been there for 30 years and is obviously very knowledgeable and competent - highly recommended.

Business is obviously very quiet at the moment and they were very eager for us to buy, so we could haggle to our hearts content (you would have been in your element here Sid!!) and have got a fantastic deal, saving 20% on a similarly equipped model in UK.

Everything should be fitted and ready in 2 weeks, and then the adventure can begin.

New Year

G.  Happy New Year to all our readers!  We saw 2013 in, courtesy of Pilar town hall who provided free cider and 12 lucky grapes.  You have to eat each grape as the church bells chime 12 times and make a wish.  Fantastic atmosphere and made all the more special by having our old friends with us who we used to spend New Year with back in UK before they made the move to Spain themselves! Unfortunately it meant our other 'new year's eve' buddy could not be with us but I'm sure she'll arrange that for another year!

Since then we have been trying to obtain our Spanish residency cards and our Spanish NHS cards but each department is saying that they need to see the other department's cards first - catch 22?  The rules keep changing about this and our local office is shutting next week and aren't processing any more applications  meaning a longer trip to access the residency department and a lengthy wait for an appointment.  Hey ho - it's a good thing we knew a bit about the red tape here.  Still, we have plenty of time on our hands now so we can't complain!

Not your normal Christmas....

Belen in Cartagena (a small corner of a
very large display)

A Spanish alternative xmas tree

G.  Well it's been a very different run up to xmas! Sunshine, warmth and no pressure!  We went into Cartagena with our friends for tapas and to look at the Belen (the Spanish take on the Nativity scene) and the xmas lights - a nice change from 'over-the-top' UK. 

Miami or La Manga strip?

Very tropical looking.

Next day ( 22nd ) we had a walk along the Mar Menor at Mar de Cristal and the sea was so calm you could see the reflections of the hotels on the other side on La Manga. It was so quiet and peaceful it felt like the 21st Dec had really happened! . 

Juvenile black necked grebe (unless you
know otherwise)

Avocet

A proper tablecloth!! (thank you
Dorothy & Brian)

Bolly from Bron - excellent

Xmas day was spent cycling to the wild beach near the nature reserve at San Pedro for a champagne picnic.  Little bit cloudy but still warm enough to eat out! On the way, as well as seeing some flamingos, we saw avocets and some young black-necked grebes.

The Yaris has left the building.

Sunrise in Torre

Sunrise in Torre

Sunrise in Torre

After 10 years of sterling service, our trusty Yaris (which never let us down) which got us to Spain through gale force winds and mountains, has been sold. Really sorry to see it go but it was surplus to requirements, so sold it to an English estate agent/wheeler dealer who has lived in Spain for 20 years, who I suspect already had a buyer for it to go back to UK. I have no doubt it will get back to UK with no problems, and give many more years of service there - great car!

Sunset from the roof

Storage space is turning out to be a problem here, so numerous trips to local furniture shops and Ikea in Murcia have been necessary. We have enough to manage with for now, and will re-assess in a month.
Sunsets have been stunning over the last few nights due to the low cloud last thing at night. Also managed to get up to see a sunrise on the coast on Friday, which was equally as stunning.

Sunset from the roof

A faulty phone box from the aerial meant we had no phone for 4 days (which we didn't realise - we just thought no-one was ringing us), but all sorted now after a visit from the Teleast engineer.

Sunset from the roof

Still need to get some bits (headlamps etc) to get the Mazda legal in Spain, but all in hand now with a UK supplier I've used for years - just the Spanish paperwork to deal with now!!

Connected !

Our link with UK

We are now connected to the world wide web courtesy of Teleast, who have put us up a very nice satellite dish so we can get on t'internet from our house. They supply a wireless router, so we can get connected in any room (or outside) which is just what we wanted. Speeds are not great, but we have all the time in the world to wait, so that is not an issue. We also have a landline phone with free unlimited calls to any UK landline, and 60 mins of free calls to any Spanish mobile. All this through the satellite dish! Cost is only €38 per month, which is quite reasonable.
We have also utilised the satellite pole ( which they charged us €20 for!) to put up an anemometer to gauge the windspeed and direction, so it was put to good use.

A pan and a half still left 

Also today went to a huge paella for 500 people in the local tent used for council events, organised in aid of fund raising for the starving of the world. A very worthwhile cause which was very well attended.

Feeding one of the 500 

A very worthwhile cause - please support.